


The Behemoth & The Coeurl

by hipsterscribbles



Series: FFXV OC Week 2017 [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Childhood memory, FFXV OC Week, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 13:42:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12322188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hipsterscribbles/pseuds/hipsterscribbles
Summary: For FFXV OC Week Day 1: Childhood MemoryJasz remembers her accidental first day of Crownsguard training.





	The Behemoth & The Coeurl

**Then**

“And what do we have here?”

I was being stupid, I knew that, but when I overheard somebody talking about the training rooms I just had to check it out for myself. So I wandered the halls of the Citadel, trying to make myself look like I belonged there so they wouldn’t kick me out. In a way, I did belong there. Or, well, my “adoptive” parents, belonged there so that gave me a pass, right? At least nobody looked like they cared about me walking around by myself, not until I got close to my goal. That’s when I noticed a few people looking at me all funny, so I tried to be sneaky after that. Nobody could sneak like Jaszmin Felinus. It was as easy as sticking to the shadows and following the signs marked “Training Hall” and in no time I found a training room being used. I only wanted to watch and maybe I’d get to see _him_ again.

See, my guardians, or my new parents or whatever, told me stories about the King and the people who served him and really it was like they were just telling me bedtime stories or something. Kid stuff. But then they told me about Cor the Immortal. I saw him a few times and he always looked so sour faced. I would’ve just thought of him as a stiff, one of those stick-up-the-butt people who wouldn’t know a joke if it was stapled to their forehead. But after hearing the story he looked different to me. Go figure. He still looked too serious but he looked like someone who could keep his cool no matter what. Not like me who was sent here because I wanted to fight everybody who said something wrong to me. He could hold his own in a fight but he could do it while looking cool. If only I could do that…

So here I was, peeking into a crack in the open door of the training room hoping I could get a look at The Immortal in action, but I got caught and now I had to think of something to keep myself out of trouble. _Will they think I’m a spy? Somebody sent from outside the wall to watch them train and report back? Accordo does belong to the Nifs now..._ I quietly gulped at that but decided not to let this stranger see me sweat. I stood up straighter as he pushed the door open with a stupid smirk on his face.

“Looks like we got a straggler over here, Lord Amicitia.”

I cursed under my breath -- something I would get scolded for ‘cause “13-year-old girls shouldn’t say such things” -- and tried to put on a poker face as he called everyone in the room’s attention to me. I tried to keep my cool but ended up glaring at the man, thinking not so nice things in his direction. He was older, probably 18 or 19, and a lot bigger than me but he probably only saw me as a weak little girl, so his guard would be down. _I could take him…_ Before I could think about doing anything stupid, a familiar voice called my name and I looked towards it out of habit.

“Hey Jasz!”

Gladiolus Amicitia smiled and waved at me from across the room. I waved back at him with a little smile too ‘cause that’s how it was with us now. I didn’t mean for it to happen but somehow we became friends over the past year. He really was a nice person and he talked to me like he talked to anybody else, he didn’t treat me like some fragile little thing like a lot of people did. It’s better here than it was in Altissia, though. Nobody tried to stuff me into frilly dresses and uncomfortable shoes here, at least.

I recognized Clarus Amicitia as he walked over to where I was. He was the King’s shield and was on the council just like my guardians, so we met a few times. He was also friends with my uncle Weskham and I think that’s probably why he’s usually nice to me. Plus I think Gladio talks about me to him. He’s such a weirdo. I smiled politely up at Gladio’s dad and bowed my head all proper like. “Good afternoon, Lord Amicitia.” He smiled back at me, just a little bit but still, sometimes it surprised me. He’s one of those serious people too -- more severe looking than The Immortal, even! -- but I’ve actually seen him smile and even heard him make jokes a couple of times. I wondered if The Immortal told jokes.

“Good afternoon, Jaszmin. Did you get separated from your parents?”

Everyone called them that, my guardians. It makes sense ‘cause that’s pretty much what they are, I guess. And it’s not like I don’t like them, I really do. But it’s just weird ‘cause my parents are alive and well in Altissia. I’ll get used to it one day, I guess. “No, sir, I came here on my own.” I saw Gladio rest his practice sword on his shoulder as he watched our conversation. He looked… Proud? _Weirdo._ I looked at the other kids standing with him and realized that there were no girls. _How stupid. Do they think only boys could become soldiers?_ That made me a little mad but it gave me an idea, too. “I’ve come to train, Lord Amicitia.”

There was laughter all of a sudden from the rude man who called me a straggler earlier. Before I knew it some of the other boys in the room started to laugh too. That made me even madder than I was before and I couldn’t keep from snarling at the overgrown idiot. I looked over to Gladio fully expecting him to join in on the poke fun at little Jaszmin party but he didn’t. He wasn’t even smiling. He looked annoyed or something, like he didn’t want me intruding on his precious training. _Well tough luck, stupid pretty face._

“That’s cute. The training hall’s no place for a little girl, honey.”

I clenched my fists and bared my teeth at the stupid man and it only made him laugh more. I was about to give him something to really laugh at with a swift kick to his crotch when I felt a hand on my shoulder. When I looked up at the person who dared to touch me at a time like this, I almost gasped out loud. The Immortal was looking down at me, serious as ever as he shook his head. I guess he saw the anger fade from my face ‘cause he moved his hand from my shoulder and walked past me.

“If I may, Lord Amicitia, I would suggest that she begins training. Let her channel some of that anger into something useful.”

I stared wide-eyed at The Immortal and wondered if it was so easy to see through me, not that I was very good at hiding it when I got mad at somebody. There were a few seconds where nobody said anything, The Immortal and Gladio’s dad just stared at each other like they were sending messages with their brains or something. I realized then that most of the people who knew my uncle would know the real reason I was sent here. My guardians would, The Immortal would, Gladio’s dad would, even the King knew. _How embarrassing._ Before I could melt into a puddle of shame all over the training room’s floor, Gladio’s dad nodded and waved me over to him. I only noticed then that the laughing had stopped and I had to fight to keep from sticking my tongue out at the idiots who wouldn’t take me seriously.

“Speaking from personal experience, Leonis? No doubt, this is a subject you know very well.”

I looked from Gladio’s dad to The Immortal, really confused. _From personal experience?_ Was he saying that I had something in common with Cor the Immortal? That didn’t sound right, he was just so cool! The Immortal only shrugged though it sounded like he snorted, the kind of snort that people do instead of just laughing. I stared, waiting to see if he actually would laugh but he was back to looking like his usual stone-faced self. Seriously, it didn’t even look like he _could_ laugh. Gladio’s dad turned his attention to me and he had that severe look on his face again.

“I should warn you now, Jaszmin, this training is for future Crownsguard and will not be easy.”

I looked straight into the stern blue eyes of Clarus Amicitia and nodded seriously while trying to keep from getting too excited. _Yes!_ I turned back to The Immortal and bowed gratefully to him. I would train hard and hopefully one day become as cool as he was. “Thank you, Mr. Immortal, sir.” I heard a few snickers from some of the boys in the room but I ignored it, they wouldn’t take this moment from me. And as if my day couldn’t get any better, he smiled at me. Cor the Immortal actually smiled at me! I felt like some starstruck fan or something. While I grinned up at him he shook his head at me.

“Don’t thank me yet. I imagine you’re going to hate me once you’re sore to the bone and full of bruises.”

He wasn’t smiling anymore but his eyes still did that crinkly thing as if he was, so I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. He left the room after that, then everyone’s eyes were on me. This part sucked big time ‘cause I didn’t really know how to handle it. I tried to stand as tall as possible but being the center of attention made me want to hide somewhere. I was glad when Gladio’s dad made everybody get back to training, except Gladio, who he called over to us.

“First thing’s first, you need to learn the basics. Gladiolus can help you with at least that much.”

I looked from him to Gladio and nodded, almost laughing at the way he was grinning. _Bet you feel super important now don’t you, stupid pretty face?_ Gladio’s dad took a moment to give Gladio a look before turning to the rest of his pupils.

“And you lot, since you seem to have plenty of time for laughing I fear you may not have enough work to do. I think a full set of drills are in order. You as well, Cassius. I believe you also need a refresher course on what we Crownsguard stand for. Perhaps the first lesson will be ‘How not to be arrogant, sexist, and demeaning 101’, hm?”

I tried my hardest not to laugh as the overgrown idiot and the rest of the boys dragged their feet to get into position for their drills but I couldn’t help the grin on my face when “Cassius” glared at me. _Take that, stupid!_ Gladio looked awfully proud as he led me over to the rack of wooden training weapons and named each one. I stared at them with wide eyes ‘cause I never thought about fighting with an actual weapon before. Gladio just grinned and picked out a sword to hand over to me. It was smaller than his but it still looked plenty big in my hands. He led me over to another part of the training room and showed me how to hold the sword. When I got it right he took a few steps away from me.

“Alright. First I gotta see how you fight, then we can go from there. So, show me whatcha got, Jazzy!”

I eyed the wooden practice sword in my hands then looked over at him, just standing there relaxed like we weren’t about to go at each other with weapons. I took a deep breath and charged forward, trying to hit him somewhere, anywhere. He easily dodged my attack and ended up tapping me on the head with his own sword. That peeved me off good and I turned around to try to run at him again but this time he made me fall flat on my butt.

“You’re fast but you get mad too easy, that can get you in trouble. I know ‘cause I’m that way too, sometimes.”

He laughed then and it made me snarl at him. It made me want to charge at him again and maybe knock him on his butt too. But I wasn’t stupid, I wasn’t gonna try that again. He didn’t look bothered at all that I was peeved at him and that only made it worse. I stood up, fighting the urge to rub the sore spot on my butt in the middle of a room full of stupid boys. I was weighing the practice sword in my hands and trying to come up with a way to wipe that stupid grin off his stupid face when Gladio’s dad stormed over and plucked the sword out of Gladio’s hand with a low hiss.

“I said the basics, Gladiolus. Now is not the time to show off.”

I had to bite my lips to hold back my giggle while Gladio pouted as his dad walked off with his beloved weapon. He was back to smiling in no time though and looked like he was just as happy to teach me how to stand and swing the sword. _Such a weirdo_.

**Now**

Once I got the hang of things I was hooked. I went to training every day since then, or, well, I went every day that they let me. Clarus and my guardians made me take days off ‘cause “You’ll wear yourself into the ground if you keep this up, Jaszmin!”. I got stronger and faster though and moved on from swords to dual daggers thanks to a suggestion from the Marshal. Double wielding is daunting at first but it was fun and I took to the daggers faster than anything. It got to the point that I was even able to assist others with their training. Some of the Kingsglaive, even Ignis and the Prince himself--

“No way! Really?”

I blinked as I was quickly pulled out of my reverie, almost forgetting that I was sitting in a camping chair at Pullmoor Haven telling the story of my first training day at Prompto’s request. He stared at me with those wide blue eyes full of admiration and awe and I had to laugh. The kid was too adorable for words. “Well, I only _helped_. I helped Noct learn how to dodge with the best of them, and I helped Iggy learn the dual daggers. I can’t take full credit for training them.” That didn’t seem to deter Prompto at all, he still stared at me with that same look in his eyes. It was almost the same way I looked at the Marshal sometimes. Almost. And only sometimes…

“So, like, you’re probably a better fighter than all of us except for Gladio, right? Even Iggy?”

I dutifully ignored the delicate snort that came from behind me, the area where I knew Ignis was tending to dinner prep. To my left, I heard both Gladio and Noctis chuckle and decided to ignore them too. It was a valid question if you asked me. _And he did ask me, so there._ As much as I hated to admit it, though, I had to disagree with his thought. “Uh, I wouldn’t say that. I mean have you _seen_ Ignis work those daggers? He’s terrifying.” I shuddered dramatically to add to the effect which pulled another chuckle from Prince and Shield and another snort from the strategist behind me. Prompto seemed to agree wholeheartedly, though, with a quick nod of his head. I knew I could count on him.

“Says the one who lives for the fight. Your blood thirst is only rivaled by that of Gladio’s.”

It was my turn to snort at that. Of course he was trying to push the focus of the conversation away from himself. Of course he was exaggerating. Of course he was absolutely right. I turned to grin over at Gladio who was grinning right back at me. It always reminded me of when we were kids when he did that.

“Now that you mention it… How ‘bout it, Jazzy? You in the mood to get your ass kicked?”

He stood, stretching his arms and rolling his shoulders and neck. I hopped up out of my chair faster than I intended, but the adrenaline had already started pumping. “Can’t kick what you can’t catch, Glads. Let’s do this.” We quickly made our way down the haven and onto a relatively flat part of the slough’s greenery, keeping up a steady flow of good natured shit-talking while Prompto trailed behind us with Noctis in tow. As Gladio and I took our places a few feet away from each other and summoned our weapons, Prompto and Noctis took a seat on the grass a safe distance away. I concentrated all my attention on my opponent, my eyes already tracking his every move, but I could hear the Prince scoff in our general direction.

“The behemoth and the coeurl, at it again.”

**Author's Note:**

> This got a bit longer than I anticipated... Then I got tired of looking at it so here ya go!
> 
> Bonus - What Jasz didn't see because she was too busy being a hot head:  
> -Gladio glaring at the other boys and promising violence if they didn't stop laughing at his friend.  
> -Clarus wanting to do the same as his son only he's gotta be the leader so he'll just settle for laying into Cassius for his misogynistic bullshit later c:  
> -Cor standing outside the door watching and praying to the Six that Weskham wouldn't kill them all for getting his niece involved with the Crownsguard


End file.
